#major labels

(Music Matters Media)

Record Store Day 2022 announced Taylor Swift as its first-ever global ambassador, for its 15th-anniversary celebrations that took place on April 23rd. Another Record Store Day will take place on June 18th, 2022 to release items that were either delayed in production or could not be made in time for Record Store Day in April. Jack White has addressed this issue by calling out major labels who are overloading the pressing plants to invest in their own pressing plants. Listen as we discuss the issue and possible solutions, we talk about Erick's Record Store Day experience (for part 1), and we give Record Store Day advice for new collectors.

Jack White reference article:

https://www.stereogum.com/2179538/jack-white-record-pressing-plant-major-labels/news/

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My Winter 2022 Reading/Audiobook  Log Pt. 9

Major Labels: A History Of Popular Music In Seven Genres by Kelefa Sanneh read by Kelefa Sanneh

All Of The Marvels by Douglas Wolk read by Douglas Wolk

Men, Women, & Chainsaws by Carol J Clover read by Eva Wilhelm

My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie read by Steven Pacey 

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie read by Steven Pacey

Last Argument Of Kings by Joe Abercrombie read by Steven Pacey

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie read by Steven Pacey

The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie read by Steven Pacey

This is old—2014—but it’s a fascinating read from a DIY guy who’s been making independent music for 20+ years.

I’ve been doing a bit of reading on artist shelving, which led me to this unrelated article. The thing about shelving is that it’s not talked about much on the record, so if my shelving anon knows things, it’s not from Google searches lol. It’s a thing, though, according to another Guardian article I read. The reasons usually appear to be less conspiracies and more mundane. The guy who signed you left the company, and now nobody cares about you. They were looking for a young, urban sounding white boy and signed Justin Bieber after you. But it can be, according to a blogger musician I read, to clear a path for another artist. It’s entirely possible that Syco/Sony signed Louis with no intention of promoting him. It’s possible that RCA/Sony signed Zayn because a. he couldn’t sign with anyone else because of his exiting artist clause and b. because when the time came for HS1 they could back burner him to give Harry the time to capture the huge 1D fandom for, mostly, his very own. It’s possible. It would explain why IF wasn’t released in 2017 as teased by RCA’s own CEO in early 2017.

The only other take away I have at this point is that record labels don’t care about their artists, whom they consider to be product, which is a PGIO (Penetrating Glimpse Into the Obvious). But they really don’t. None of 1D has to work for the rest of their lives. If they want to work, Louis can write songs for other people, Liam can get into production, which he’s mentioned as an interest. Zayn can model, honestly. Niall can play in that pub band he’s talked about before. Harry can be a celebrity and an actor. The problem for them as musicians is that the only model they know is the big label model. I wonder if Zayn’s YouTube channel and covers from 2018 were just him trying out other ways to be a musician. I also wonder if his collabs are the same thing. Labels don’t care about artists, and they’re definitely not going to care about anyone who’s too much work to work with.

The worst of it to me in Zayn’s case is that when he did have a manager he picked or had chosen for him an industry insider. She was going to keep him in that major label model forever.

Some interesting discussion of a complex issue within Fandom- metal is discussed here but i think theyre widely applicable.